Yep, it works.

And it's cute and portable.

The sound inputs and outputs are the standard 1/8th inch... easily adaptable to most any home stereo... and it's a twenty dollar endeavor to send from the 'little mac' to any FM radio nearby... with one of those little transmitters that people usually connect their iPod to their car stereo with.

The background noise is surprisingly low... after you've messed around with levels and various AUs. Some AUs just make a lot of noise, and some don't... and yes, it is possible to add too many... so go easy...

The 31 band graphic equalizer that comes with the AU lab (apple) really makes for exquisite fine tuning of your sound, and of complimenting the stereo-radio system you are playing through.

An interesting quirk in the "Audio MIDI Setup" makes a lot of difference in the sound... when you start a new session, open up the Audio MIDI Setup in the applications 'utilities', and move one of the input levels a hair. The overall input of the system will immediately jump by half. This is good to know. After getting the hang of 'the levels thing' your in home "little Mac" studio will capture your muse, and play it back for you for future editing.

When you use the "little Mac" as a signal processor, it's easy to record what you are playing, anytime. One mouse click starts... one mouse click stops... a pretty darn good AIFF quicktime recording... which can be burned, converted to MP3, or inserted into the virtual multitrack of your choice, or made into a music CD.

Do I secretly dream of owning a Mac Pro 3.2 Ghz?   Well uhh... yeah... but I don't need it for sound... I want it for Video, Photoshop, (do I hear... Movieshop?), and high-end productions of all kinds...

But for simple recordings with a smorgasbord of play-through effects that would cost thousands in a music store, this is a wonderful portable solution. Heck... the VGA screen is small by todays standards... but it's just the right size to view across your playing area, has an amazing array of brightness potentials with all of the 'dimming' programs available, can be nudged to a mini light show type of 'screensaver'... and with a USB extension, you can put your mouse on a table or a stool right next to you.

Next stop... Foot controls!

Cheerio!
Until next time,
ttr